Appliances generally include a control panel with user inputs for regulating operation of the appliance. Various user inputs are available for appliances. For example, buttons, switches, touch sensors and combinations of such user inputs may be provided on a control panel in order to provide a user with control of an associated appliance. Recently, tactile inputs have become more popular. Certain consumers prefer the feel of tactile inputs compared to alternative user inputs due to the feedback provided by tactile inputs. Despite their popularity, manufacturing tactile inputs for appliances and using tactile inputs in appliances poses certain challenges.
Certain current tactile inputs are produced by laminating various layers of plastic together. Thus, such current tactile inputs are a compilation of multiple parts with many failure modes, including adhesion, delamination, incorrectly positioned components, etc. In particular, dishwasher appliances may include a vent where steam and other heated fluids exit a wash chamber of the dishwasher appliance, and a control panel of the dishwasher appliance may positioned directly over the vent. Over time, expansion and contraction of the control panel caused by heating of the control panel by the fluids exiting the vent can cause the components of the control panel to separate and/or delaminate.
Accordingly, a method for forming a control panel for an appliance that includes tactile inputs would be useful. In particular, a method for forming a control panel for an appliance that includes tactile inputs with features for hindering or preventing separation of tactile input components would by useful.